A cartoon that draws on Norman Rockwell's iconic painting of an African-American girl defying school segregation to defend Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has sparked a firestorm of criticism.

Outraged that DeVos is being compared to Ruby Bridges, whose bravery was immortalized in the 1964 painting “The Problem We All Live With,” critics let their feelings be known on social media about the cartoon, which appeared in an Illinois newspaper.

“My cartoon was about how, in this day and age, decades beyond the civil rights protests, it's sad that people are still being denied the right to speak freely or do their jobs or enter public buildings because others disagree with who they are or how they think," McCoy said in an interview Wednesday with Talking Points Memo.

McCoy said he was inspired to draw the cartoon after DeVos was blocked from entering a public school by protesters last week in Washington, D.C. He said he believed he was "speaking out against hate."